Displayed towing range is over-inflated

[RPG]

Can you believe this towing range!? 404 miles at an efficiency of 1.2 miles/kWh! The efficiency is realistic, and agrees with what I calculate (1.17 mi/kWh) from the towing log that I keep. But, to get 404 miles at that efficiency would require a battery capacity of 337 kWh, versus the actual 141 kWh. Or, I would need to get an efficiency of 2.86 mi/kWh, which is better than I usually get without the trailer. The quoted 404 mile range is nearly equal to the ideal 420 mile non-towing range.

Has anyone figured out whether there is a rationale for this displayed range?

Fortunately, the navigation screen provides fairly accurate estimates of state of charge on arrival, so I can use that to plan and monitor my travel. I mostly ignore the range on the Towing screen, since it is meaningless. I did submit feedback suggesting that it be made more realistic.

This is in a Gen 2 R1T, dual motor, max pack, software 2026.15.0, towing a 27' Airstream Globetrotter.

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[VSG]

Yawn. The towing summary has always had bugs like this. If you have driven a lot with that trailer profile, you should be able to fix this issue by resetting the numbers. Might have to delete the profile and recreate it. On the other hand, if this is a brand new profile you've never used before, taking a few actual trips will allow Rivian to converge on a more accurate answer. And while I agree it really "should" be corrected, it's so far off that no-one with any common sense would rely on this.

If you do your trip planning with ABRP and make sure you're using reasonable numbers, then you'll never run into problems on the road

 

[Thebandit]

Yawn. The towing summary has always had bugs like this. If you have driven a lot with that trailer profile, you should be able to fix this issue by resetting the numbers. Might have to delete the profile and recreate it. On the other hand, if this is a brand new profile you've never used before, taking a few actual trips will allow Rivian to converge on a more accurate answer. And while I agree it really "should" be corrected, it's so far off that no-one with any common sense would rely on this.

If you do your trip planning with ABRP and make sure you're using reasonable numbers, then you'll never run into problems on the road

What a weird response. It's like "yeah it's horribly broken nonsense, but I already knew about it so why are you even posting."

 

[BlueHeathen]

I've towed a few times and if the trailer isn't actually connected to the truck that range value - if memory serves - remains at the 'nothing connected to the hitch' number. I see in your pic at the bottom that it is showing no trailer connected, so it's calculation would be as if it's not towing anything. If you connect the trailer, does the range change?

 

[VSG]

What a weird response. It's like "yeah it's horribly broken nonsense, but I already knew about it so why are you even posting."

What I was responding to was an overly-dramatic post that reflected little effort on the poster's part - did the OP even search the forum? Problems with these summary numbers have been reported and discussed for years. And in the big picture, this is just a summary number, which is not reflected in the navigation calculations so the impact of this error on the end user is basically nothing. There was even an OTA a year (?) ago to fix this, but you had to delete and recreate your profile to correct the summary numbers. That's what I advised.

@BlueHeathen also pointed out an interesting fact that may put the 404 number in context.

So no, it's not accurate to summarize my response as "yeah it's horribly broken nonsense, but I already knew about it so why are you even posting." because:

• I said it's not horribly broken. It's one summary number that doesn't even matter, that may, on some vehicles, display the wrong value.
• It's not just me who knows about it, there's a three or four year history in this forum of discussions about towing range and the values presented in the UI and what they mean.
• Is the objective here to fix the problem? If so there are answers in the forum, including the one I gave.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Number is assuming a much more aerodynamic profile than the average trailer. It's strictly a calculation and doesn't take actual efficiency into consideration.

Ignore it and just go off the range remaining at destination that's displayed on the navigation screen. It's much closer to reality.

 

[RPG]

I've towed a few times and if the trailer isn't actually connected to the truck that range value - if memory serves - remains at the 'nothing connected to the hitch' number. I see in your pic at the bottom that it is showing no trailer connected, so it's calculation would be as if it's not towing anything. If you connect the trailer, does the range change?

Good question; so I connected the trailer, and the numbers don't change. I'm taking a short trip next week. I'll reset the trailer profile first to see if it gives more realistic numbers.

 

[RPG]

UPDATE:
I reset my trailer profile before a 300 mile trip this week, and the new results are much more realistic:

The average efficiency is 1.1 mi/kWh. That agrees with 1.09 mi/kWh I calculated from my log.
Rivian now gives a max range of 201 mi; much more realistic than the 404 it had before the reset, but still a little optimistic. It would require an average efficiency of 1.42 mi/kWh to get that far on 141.5 kWh. I wonder what algorithm they use to calculate this range. Is this the range you might get at 35 or 45 mph?

My driving on this trip was mostly interstate highways, at a max speed of 65 mph. One 113 mile leg of the trip was against a fierce headwind, where I only got 0.90 mi/kWh. While the navigation computer was generally good at estimating energy requirements, it did not do a good job of accounting for this headwind. Starting with 100% charge, at departure, it estimated arrival with 37% SOC. During the drive the estimate steadily dropped, and I arrived with just 11%.

 

[LivingInKaos]

I tow frequently (2-3x's week) and always laugh at the range estimates. I've felt like it is similar to the 15min efficiency graph in that it bases it on the last bit of driving with that trailer profile, not the entire history.

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